In Game 1 of the Western Conference opening-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers, Dwight Howard was called for a foul against Joel Freeland in the final 10 seconds of the Rockets’ 122-120 overtime loss. The NBA later admitted the foul should have been on Freeland.

The other missed call to be acknowledged was in Game 1 of the Los Angeles Clippers-Golden State series when the Warriors’ Draymond Green was not called for a foul against Chris Paul with 18.9 seconds left.

“If it’s a late call and it may have affected the outcome, we’re going to mention it,” Thorn said.

But Thorn is quick to add his referees get most calls right and that no one feels worse than they do when they later see they got one wrong.

“I’ve been in this league so long and there have always been conspiracy theories (on makeup calls and the like), but they are doing a good job,” said Thorn, who has been in the league as a player, coach and executive since 1963.

The playoffs are under more scrutiny because of TV, but so is every game. And so the NBA, like many other leagues, is faced with decisions about how much replay to use in its games.

Striking a balance

“You want to get the call right,” said Kiki Vandeweghe, the league’s vice president for basketball operations. “Let the referees have more discretion (on when to use replay).”

Currently, replay reviews primarily focus on the clock (did a shot or foul occur before time ran out), if a shot was a 2-pointer or 3-pointer, out-of-bounds calls, goaltending and flagrant fouls.

“We have to balance getting it right versus the four-hour game,” Silver said.

But one goal, when the league’s Board of Governors meets on the issue, is to “give the referees more discretion on what can be reviewed,” Silver said.

To that end, Thorn said, he would prefer the referees err on the side of calling a foul as flagrant so that it can be reviewed.

“That way, at least they have a chance to look at it and give them more chances to get it right,” he said. “If you don’t call it, it can’t be reviewed and has no chance to be right.”

Silver said because the regional television coverage has improved — well, except for those without Comcast in Houston — all games get as good a camera angle in the regular season as they do in the playoffs, which can make it easier for adding replay.

Clearing it up for fans

Of course, he added, it would help if the announcers knew the rules and what was being reviewed as well as the referees.

“Our fans watch and hear a lot of stuff, and we just want to make it right and more transparent,” Silver said.

So, while it might seem like a makeup call for the league to say it got it wrong, like it did in the Rockets’ Game 1, it’s another step in Silver’s goal of making the game more transparent.

And, as coach Kevin McHale said, if you watched film of the entire game, the Rockets didn’t lose it because of just one call.

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